Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-04-21
THE NERVOUS HEROINE.
Tho Shattered Woman. ana tho Sympathy
Which Shall Greet Her In Heaven, II
Not on Earth.

| N6nVOOS 0cnOUJV6s
Tho Shattered Woman, ana tho sympathy
Which Shall Greet Her in Heaven, II
Not ON Earth.
There are more heroes than those
who die on battle-fields; more martyrs
than those the worlds memory Ell.
shrines; more saints than those whose
names are told Oh rosaries. What
courage does the soldier need who
marches to battle with the song of
bugles and a nations cheers to over
aow the excited brain with delirious
1aring. compared to that required by a
feeble woman to put to rout the host of
cares that daily besiege her way. to
control sudden tempers, the outgrowth
If shattered nerves. and hold herself
calm and sweet through days that are
ike armed men. in their onslaught
upon peace? There is an exalted en-
.husiasm that carries the martyr to his
loom. but in the terribly prosaic lot
If most women what enthusiasm can
:lothe the barren life with any,
hing worthy of the crown and
the palm that lie beyond the martyrs
suffering? The sanity lives that cast
The whiteness Of their bloom in secluded
cloisters apart from the worlds allure
ments, folded from its temptations. as
lambs are folded from the providing
wolf and the bitter storm, leave fair
and lovely records. it is true. of tender
ministrations and sweet self-abnega-
ion. of prayer. as pure rs the snow
that falls on still mountain peaks. or
The stars that wing their way above
them. but why should it be otherwise?
Should not lilies grow in sheltered
gardens. and roses Chamber over the
:rellis that loving hands prepare? But
when you find the lilv blooming on the
dusty highway. and the rose nodding
above the homely hut Of poverty. then
take notice of its beauty. for angels
might honor it, and God Himself con-
sent to wear it next His heart. When
see brawny men and strong. healthy
women ridiculing and condemninc
he nervousness of some delicate
woman. made 4uerulOus by daily bat
ties. hotter than any Gettysburg. l
fancy l see blacksmith's hammer or
a granite bowlder questioning the
tremulous nature of watch-spring.
Care and trouble. that would pass over
your head rs the winds pass over the
mountain pines. only bending the far
tops little, while the roots take hold
on the eternal hills, would sweep the
delicate mechanism of other natures
into chaos. What does your tiesh-and-
blood Hebe know of nerves? Her
blood is elixir, her sinews are like
strung cords. and all her goings out
and comings in are timed to the pulses
Of buoyant life. She is splendid
physical development, masterpiece of
mechanism that works rs smoothly rs
Il feather drawn through oil. OF
course. she carries electric cheer
wherever she goes-why shouldn't
she? She is never out of sorts
why should she be? A harp in
constant tune gives forth no dis
cords. She is never Respondent, never
east down, never nervous. An eagle
soaring on strong. uplif,ed wing above
The reac. of the huntsman's arrow is
never wounded. Now take the woman
who has lots of babies. and 4 shattered
vitality, who was made frail and deli
cate creature in the first place. and by
chance and circumstance has been SO
reduced that her body is but the trans
parent astral vase that holds the flower
Of life. and let her be sunshlny. and
blithe, and sweet, not more than one
third Of the time. tell you that one
third counts more in the sight of
Heaven than the entire unrufIl I'd exist
ence of the woman whose nerves are
strong and well. She shall pass
through life with no song of deliver
ance, no need of glory. such rs con-
querors know; she shall be found fault
with and despised by people who can
no more understand what she suffers
than a burdock root can understand
why the sensitive plant shrinks at the
highest touch, or a steam-whistle
why an aolian harp responds to the
song of the troubadour wind. She
shall lie down in death at last, as upon
a couch of perfect peace. meckly Won
dering. perhaps, what welcome her
spent and weary soul shall gain from
Heaven. Her shattered body shall be
laid away with plying tears and soon
forgotten; but l love to think of the
surprise that awaits the dear soul there!
She shall find that every prayer for
strength. every yearning for patience,
every heart-throb and tear has been
remembered BY the Heart of Infinite